Fox News host Harris Faulkner and her guest — former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer — suggested on Thursday that a &#8220;hot mic&#8221; moment involving former Governor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/chris-christie" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Christie</a> (R-N.J.) may not have been entirely accidental.
Both Faulkner and Fleischer appeared to be in agreement that a veteran politico like Christie — who has served both in elected office and as a political commentator — was not likely to be caught unaware by a live microphone.
&#8220;First of all, if you care about your political party and you’ve been in politics as long as Chris Christie, do you really not know that mic is not hot?&#8221; Faulkner asked, according to a <a href="https://www.mediaite.com/politics/ari-fleischer-accuses-chris-christie-of-trashing-haley-on-hot-mic-on-purpose-he-knew-what-he-was-doing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Mediaite. &#8220;I mean, I don’t know. I guess we’ll never know. I refuse to believe that until he tells that publicly. And what he said was explosive against those other two candidates.&#8221;
&#8220;Yeah, I mean it really shows that he thinks he is the only one. The fact that he won’t endorse anybody else, and obviously won’t endorse Donald Trump,&#8221; Fleischer agreed. &#8220;The cynic makes you think, now maybe he’s going to try to pivot back to President Trump after being the one who denounced President Trump.&#8221;
&#8220;Or even Biden, the way he was talking!&#8221; Faulkner suggested.
&#8220;Well, I don’t think that’s happening,&#8221; Fleischer laughed, arguing that Christie was more likely to push a third party than to endorse President Joe Biden. &#8220;The real place to keep your eye out for Chris Christie is No Labels. Is he going to be the one who now tries to carry the No Labels mantle, and maybe that reads to that hot mic moment. He knew what he was doing and he’s going to try to set himself up for a run down the middle.&#8221;
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Just before Christie announced on Wednesday that he was suspending his own presidential campaign, he was allegedly caught on a live mic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/chris-christie-rips-nikki-haley-on-hot-mic-shes-going-to-get-smoked-shes-not-up-to-this" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trashing opponent</a> and former Governor Nikki Haley (S.C.). He also seemed poised to attack Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), but the feed cut out before he finished his sentence.
&#8220;She’s gonna get smoked. And you and I both know it. She’s not up to this,&#8221; Christie said of Haley, adding, &#8220;DeSantis called me, petrified that I would …&#8221; before the mic cut out.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Visits “The Faulkner Focus”

Fox News Host — And Guest — Aren’t Buying The Chris Christie ‘Hot Mic’: ‘He Knew What He Was Doing’

Fox News Host -- And Guest — Aren't Buying The Chris Christie 'Hot Mic': 'He Knew What He Was Doing'

Ari Fleischer

Elections

Fox News

Harris Faulkner

Media

Politics

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer called out what he believed was &#8220;gibberish&#8221; coming from the White House in response to the recent discovery of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/secret-service-discovers-cocaine-inside-white-house-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cocaine</a> in the West Wing.
Fleischer, who worked in the White House under former President George W. Bush, noted the discrepancy between initial reports and follow-up reporting, especially with regard to the location in which the &#8220;white powdery substance&#8221; was first discovered over the weekend.
Initial reports detailing the initial dispatch call stated that the suspicious substance had been found in the residence&#8217;s library – after which initial field tests indicated it was likely cocaine. &#8220;We have a yellow bar stating cocaine hydrochloride,&#8221; a D.C. firefighter said via radio on Sunday evening — and officials then removed the substance for further testing.
&#8220;You have got to be kidding me,&#8221; Fleischer said when news broke that the substance was believed to be <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/secret-service-confirms-cocaine-found-in-white-house-west-wing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cocaine</a>. &#8220;Cocaine was found at the WH and authorities aren’t saying exactly where it was found. If it’s the Old Executive Office Building, it’s likely staff. If it’s the mansion, it’s likely Hunter. Reporters do your job.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
You have got to be kidding me. Cocaine was found at the WH and authorities aren’t saying exactly where it was found. If it’s the Old Executive Office Building, it’s likely staff. If it’s the mansion, it’s likely Hunter. 
Reporters do your job. <a href="https://t.co/aPfGnn4Wof">https://t.co/aPfGnn4Wof</a>
&mdash; Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/1676249151401500673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Follow-up reports stated that the substance had actually been found in a West Wing &#8220;work area&#8221; — although which &#8220;work area&#8221; that might be remains a mystery — and Fleischer immediately questioned the change.
&#8220;What gibberish. A West Wing &#8216;work area&#8217;?&#8221; he tweeted. &#8220;With the exception of the WH Mess and the bathrooms, the entire West Wing is a work area. Where exactly was the cocaine found? In whose office? In the Sit Room? In the private office next to the Oval? Where?&#8221;
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What gibberish. A West Wing “work area”? 
With the exception of the WH Mess and the bathrooms, the entire West Wing is a work area. Where exactly was the cocaine found? In whose office? In the Sit Room? In the private office next to the Oval?
Where?
 <a href="https://t.co/deHd4nvckj">https://t.co/deHd4nvckj</a>
&mdash; Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/1676555525490614272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 5, 2023</a></blockquote>
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President Joe Biden, following remarks on education on Tuesday, walked off stage as reporters shouted questions about the cocaine.
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="President Biden Dodges Questions from Reporters Following Cocaine Discovery at White House" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PW_opS_5LW0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
After the initial shock of learning that the substance had been verified to be cocaine, NBC White House Correspondent Mike Memoli <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pretty-wild-msnbc-reacts-to-cocaine-found-in-white-house-suggests-visitors-may-be-at-fault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quickly suggested</a> that the &#8220;dime-sized&#8221; bag might have been left behind by someone visiting the White House.
&#8220;This was found, we understand, in a highly-trafficked common area of the West Wing. It’s an area where individuals, especially visitors, individuals who may be coming for, for instance, say private tour, might have been asked to leave some of their personal belongings before heading into more sensitive areas of the West Wing,&#8221; he said.

Patrick McMullan Archives

‘You Have Got To Be Kidding Me’: Ari Fleischer Calls Out WH ‘Gibberish’ Spin On Cocaine Story

'You Have Got To Be Kidding Me': Ari Fleischer Calls Out WH 'Gibberish' Spin On Cocaine Story

Cocaine

Executive

Hunter Biden

Joe Biden

U.S.

White House

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer warned on Tuesday that the growing number of Texas Republicans retiring from Congress could signal a larger issue with the party&#8217;s ability to win over voters in the Lone Star State.
&#8220;Republicans should be worried,&#8221; Fleischer told Fox News host Sandra Smith. &#8220;What happened in the 2018 election, if that&#8217;s any indication, is that Republicans have a problem particularly in college educated, suburban areas around Dallas, Houston, et cetera.&#8221;
Fleischer harkened back to his role in the 1990&#8217;s serving as the spokesman for the House of Representatives&#8217; Ways and Means Committee under former Rep. Bill Archer (R-TX). At the time, Archer served as the representative for Texas&#8217; 7th Congressional district, preceding former President George H.W. Bush.
&#8220;[The district is] one of the most college educated districts in America,&#8221; Fleischer said. &#8220;After being Republican for some-30 years, it flipped to Democrat in 2018. This is worrisome.&#8221;
Fleischer&#8217;s remarks come only a day after the sixth House Republican in Texas revealed that he will not be seeking re-election after his term expires.
&#8220;It has been a great honor to serve the people of the 13th District of Texas as their congressman for the last 25 years. They have given me opportunities to serve the nation in ways I could have never imagined, including as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee,&#8221; Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) wrote on Twitter. &#8220;We are reminded, however, that &#8216;for everything there is a season,&#8217; and I believe that the time has come for a change. Therefore, this is my last term in the U.S. House of Representatives.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;It has been a great honor to serve the people of the 13th District of Texas as their congressman for the last 25 years. They have given me opportunities to serve the nation in ways I could have never imagined, including as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. (1/2)
&mdash; Mac Thornberry Press (@MacTXPress) <a href="https://twitter.com/MacTXPress/status/1178684292857237504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 30, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Thornberry was first elected to the House in 1994 and is one of the longest-tenured Texans in Congress. He won his district in 2018 after receiving more than 80 percent of the vote and the seat is not considered to be at risk of flipping Democrat after he steps down.
However, out of the 25 House Republicans representing Texas districts when President Donald Trump was sworn into office in 2016, only 11 are poised to still be in Congress when the upcoming election cycle concludes.
In what the media has dubbed the &#8220;Texodus,&#8221; six House Republicans have announced their retirements since July. Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX), revealed that he would not be seeking re-election to the 22nd Congressional District, turning that district into a top-tier battleground going into 2020. Reps. Mike Conaway, Will Hurd, Kenny Marchant, and Bill Flores made their own retirement announcements shortly after Olson.
Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-house-minority-leader-brushes-slew-gop-molly-prince">has dismissed</a> the slew of retirements as an opportunity for &#8220;new blood&#8221; to go through the party.
&#8220;There&#8217;s a difference between an election year and a midterm year,&#8221; Fleischer said. &#8220;This one&#8217;s got a presidential election cycle coming out, so you&#8217;ve got much heavier turnout in Texas of a Republican base than you did in 2018, but still, I think Texas is a warning sign to Republicans about suburbia, about college educated voters and women, and they need to keep their eye on it.&#8221;
&#8220;They&#8217;ve got to do better with those groups,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Texas is still a red state &#8212; it has a little purple tinge to it [but] presidential level, I&#8217;m not worried about Texas at all, but these House retirements are tough on Republicans.&#8221;

Prominent Republicans Address The Republican Jewish Coalition Spring Meeting

Ari Fleischer Sounds The Alarm On Texas Republican Retirements

House Republicans

Texas

On Thursday, Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro joined former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer on Fox News&#8217; The Story with Martha MacCullum to discuss the White House and its dealings with White House aide Rob Porter, who has been accused of being abusive to two ex-wives and a girlfriend and resigned on Wednesday.
MacCullum introduced the subject by noting the White House was under fire for keeping Porter on so long, and that one official who was accused of knowing about the allegations was White House Chief of Staff John Kelly. The White House said on Thursday that Kelly only learned the full extent of Porter&#8217;s alleged abuse on Wednesday.
MacCullum played video of various people criticizing the White House for not firing Porter before, then asked Shapiro his thoughts about Porter&#8217;s sudden fall from grace. Shapiro responded:
<blockquote>
No question, it&#8217;s a major fall for him, but it seems like a fall that is well-deserved from the credibility of the allegations, and of course, we&#8217;ve got multiple allegations from multiple different women. You have a police action that was filed against him, a temporary restraining order. The real question is what did John Kelly know, and even if he only knew some of the allegations why would he allow Rob Porter to get so close to the president? That really is the question to me, because it&#8217;s clear to me from what Kelly has said, what the administration has said, he didn&#8217;t, for example, have access to the photo of the ex-wife who was hit in the face, and once that came out he changed his story. But when you&#8217;re in doubt, you gotta keep the president safe from the impact of having someone around him who&#8217;s gonna take a fall like this, and it just seems irresponsible to me if you know anything about these stories to allow anyone with those allegations floating around about them to be that close to the president. It wounds the president; it puts the president in a vulnerable position.
</blockquote>
MacCullum noted that Shapiro was concerned about the danger to national security posed by such a situation, then pointed out that Porter&#8217;s first wife said that people who knew Porter thought him a model citizen. She turned to Fleischer, saying, &#8220;This is clearly somebody who had a pretty good Jekyll and Hyde routine going.&#8221;
Fleischer responded:
<blockquote>
And I think that explains why people at the White House said what they said about him. Look, this is human nature; it has nothing to do whether you work at the White House or work in a school or wherever you are. If there&#8217;s somebody you know you admire, that you like, you say that, and it&#8217;s reflected in what you think, because that&#8217;s how they behave at the office. They may have a totally separate way of acting when they go home, and perhaps that&#8217;s what the case is here. In all fairness to Rob Porter, he has denied this, and that is important; we do have to have two sides; and I think that would explain that then, when people could be so shocked, that he&#8217;s such a great guy at the office, we don&#8217;t know what he&#8217;s like at home. And then you have to be precise in your language, when you say, &#8220;was he aware of this?&#8221; What exactly is &#8220;this&#8221;? Is it that there&#8217;s a picture of him with a wife who has a black eye? Or is it that there are allegations of difficulties in a marriage and we don&#8217;t know all the facts yet. This is just where you have to let the investigators really tell you, what do you know, what was precisely conveyed and said.
</blockquote>
MacCallum played a clip of Principal Deputy White House Secretary Raj Shah asserting, &#8220;I think it&#8217;s fair to say we all could have done better over the last few hours, or last few days in dealing with this situation.&#8221; MacCullum said, &#8220;The White House accepting some blame there. Ben?&#8221;
Shapiro:
<blockquote>
I think that&#8217;s exactly the right move, and it&#8217;s one of the rare times I&#8217;ve seen the White House actually say, &#8220;Listen, we may have made a mistake here.&#8221; You&#8217;re gonna buy an awful lot of credibility from the press and from the public when you say, &#8220;Listen, we didn&#8217;t have all the information, as we got all the information it became clear that we jumped the gun on this.&#8221; And that obviously should have been their first response, is &#8220;We&#8217;re gathering all the information; these allegations are obviously very disturbing.&#8221; I think the reason why John Kelly is in some trouble here is because he made such a strong defense of Rob Porter and then had to go back on it. But acknowledging when you make mistakes, a lot of people in politics see that as a weakness; I think that that&#8217;s actually a strength when it comes to the PR efforts for the Trump White House.
</blockquote>
MacCallum noted the media &#8220;pile-on&#8221; on Kelly lately, noting his comments about DACA recipients that triggered criticism, then commenting, &#8220;It feels like there&#8217;s some long knives out for him.&#8221;
Shapiro agreed: &#8220;It does feel like that. It feels like, there&#8217;s a feeling that John Kelly, if he&#8217;s the guy who&#8217;s protecting the president, and if he&#8217;s the guy who&#8217;s not holding the president back, I think the press wanted Kelly to be the guy who was sort of holding a leash on Trump, and of course, that&#8217;s not Kelly&#8217;s job. Kelly&#8217;s job is to organize the White House in a better way. It feels like there&#8217;s some vulnerability for Kelly now, and the press is jumping on it because they&#8217;d like to see the White House return to something more chaotic, as it was earlier before Kelly sort of took the reins here.&#8221;
MacCullum turned back to Fleischer: &#8220;Ari, last thought?&#8221;
Fleischer: &#8220;Yup. That&#8217;s exactly right, what Ben said. I&#8217;ve been around Washington long enough to know that any time somebody goes after staff they&#8217;re really going after the boss. That&#8217;s what this is about. This is a way of taking another shot at Donald Trump. Staff is interchangeable; it doesn&#8217;t matter who they are; you pick up the staffer and you go after them because you really want to take down the president. And in this case, too, I think there&#8217;s a lot of Democrats in media who don&#8217;t like John Kelly any longer; they liked him when he came in and created order, when he was an improvement, but now that they see he&#8217;s ideologically conservative, yeah, let&#8217;s throw him out too, I think there&#8217;s a lot of that going on.&#8221;
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WATCH: Shapiro On Fox: The Press Wants Kelly Out So The White House Will Be More Chaotic

Ben Shapiro

Donald Trump

John Kelly

Martha MacCallum

Left-wing CNN Democrat Jim Acosta denied the political and partisan biases of his employer during a Monday night discussion panel at George Washington University (GWU) in Washington, D.C.

Hosted by <a href="http://smpa.gwu.edu/frank-sesno">Frank Sesno</a>, a professor of media and public affairs at GWU and CNN alumnus, the discussion ostensibly sought to examine the relationship between President Donald Trump and the news media. In addition to Acosta, the panelists included left-wing journalists Hadas Gold of Politico and Jeff Mason of Reuters, and Ari Fleischer.

After Ari Fleischer warned news media outlets against becoming &#8220;an arm of the Democratic Party,&#8221; Acosta claimed that widespread media coverage of Trump &#8211; at CNN and other large media outlets &#8211; during his presidential campaign was evidence against claims of widespread left-wing and partisan Democrat biases across the media landscape.

Sesno asked Acosta of a crisis in journalism regarding its credibility with the American public:

<blockquote>
&#8220;If a US airline had the approval rating the media have got, they&#8217;d be flying empty airplanes and staring bankruptcy in the face. When you go out on the lawn, when CNN thinks about how it&#8217;s connecting to the larger public, do you think about that? And how do you win back the public?&#8221;
</blockquote>
Kellyanne Conway &#8211; now Trump&#8217;s chief counsel &#8211; <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/12910/conway-if-msm-were-real-business-heads-would-roll-robert-kraychik">shared a similar description</a> of the news media industry on Sunday in an interview with Fox News Channel&#8217;s Chris Wallace for Fox News Sunday.

Fleischer noted that Trump&#8217;s popularity and approval ratings were higher than those of news media&#8217;s according to recent Gallup polls.

Widespread negative coverage of Trump at CNN and other large media outlets, said Acosta, amounted to good faith journalism:

<blockquote>
&#8203;&#8221;Let me ask you this, did we say that Mexican immigrants are rapists and bringing crime into this country? Did we in the news media refer to women as fat pigs? Did we in the news media say that it was ok to grab a woman by her privates? Did we in the news media say that John McCain is not a war hero? Did we in the media say that you could go out on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody on the street and get away with it? No, no. Donald Trump said those things, Ari. And the reason why he generated a lot of negative news coverage is because of the things that he said during the course of this campaign. Let me ask you his: What are we supposed to do? Are we supposed to avoid the things that are said by the Republican frontrunner during the course of a campaign? Are we supposed to overlook the outrageous and insensitive things that he says during the course of the campaign and just focus on these policy papers that they&#8217;re handing out? And just scale our coverage and just weight it in that direction? Is that what we&#8217;re supposed to do? Or are we supposed to look at the totality of that individual who is running for the highest office in the land, the person who wants to be the most powerful person in the world? I would submit to you that, yes, our coverage of Donald Trump was excessive at times, during the primaries, and I think it was to his benefit, I think it was to the detriment of the other Republicans in the field. But at the same time, with that kind of coverage you&#8217;re going to get great scrutiny.&#8221;
</blockquote>
At no point in the one-hour discussion did Acosta or any of the panelists &#8211; aside from Fleischer &#8211; advance a criticism of the news media landscape regarding its widespread left-wing and partisan Democrat biases.

Acosta also claimed that his <a href="http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/11/donald-trump-jim-acosta-cnn-fake-news.cnn">&#8220;persistent&#8221; questioning</a> of Trump during the president&#8217;s first presidential press conference was consistent with informal customs of conduct among the White House Press Corps.

Rehashing the comparative focus on crowd sizes between the presidential inaugurations of Barack Obama and Trump, Acosta cast the president as ignoring &#8220;self-evident truths.&#8221; He neglected to note the fact that Washington, D.C. is one of America&#8217;s most partisan Democrat cities with a population that is almost 50% black.

Acosta also pointed to widespread media sympathy for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7OCgMPX2mE">George W. Bush&#8217;s appearance at Ground Zero</a> following the Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as evidence against Fleischer&#8217;s depiction of the news media landscape as largely left-wing and aligned with Democrats.

&#8220;We&#8217;re in the business of journalism,&#8221; said Acosta of CNN, neglecting to note his employer&#8217;s left-wing and partisan Democrat political advocacy. &#8220;I don&#8217;t the crisis right now is about the news media. Think the crisis right now is about the truth. And we are going to be in dogged pursuit of the truth, no matter what happens to us&#8230; Dif

On news media outlets deploying a different standard towards Trump than other presidents, Acosta provided his justification: &#8220;My point is, a different kind of president, maybe a different kind of rulebook.&#8221;

CNN President Jeffrey Zucker said his network may have been &#8220;<a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-jeff-zucker-concedes-cnn-has-been-a-little-too-liberal/">a little too liberal</a>&#8221; in May of 2016.

Left-wing CNN Democrat Chris Cuomo described his network as the &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQpOThRBsWk">gold standard</a>&#8221; of journalism in December of 2016.

Left-wing CNN Democrat Don Lemon described his network as &#8220;<a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/10455/lemon-cnn-sets-standard-integrity-robert-kraychik">[setting] the gold standard</a>&#8221; in journalism in November of 2016.

CNN describes itself as &#8220;<a href="http://www.cnn.com/services/trusted/">the most trust name in news</a>.&#8221;

Watch the entire event <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?422868-1/white-house-spokesman-sean-spicer-discusses-media-coverage-trump-administration&amp;live">here</a>.

Follow Robert Kraychik on <a href="https://twitter.com/kr3ch3k">Twitter</a>.
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Fleischer vs. Acosta: Throw-Down On Media Bias

Jim Acosta

Journalism

Media Bias

Politico

Reuters

ABC News wrote an <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/nightline-correction/story?id=45017358">apology</a> yesterday for mischaracterizing George W. Bush&#8217;s former Press Secretary Ari Fleischer&#8217;s remarks regarding current Press Secretary Sean Spicer earlier this week. Mediate <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/abc-news-apologizes-after-editing-former-bush-spoxs-praise-of-sean-spicer-to-sound-like-attack/">reports</a> that ABC Nightline quoted Fleischer supposedly saying the following about Spicer&#8217;s first press conference:
<blockquote>
&#8220;[Spicer&#8217;s] briefing made me uncomfortable. It was too truculent, too tough. It looks as if the ball was dropped on Saturday.&#8221; 
</blockquote>
In response to that reporting, Fleischer corrected the record in a series of tweets, demonstrating that ABC selectively edited his words to make it seem like he was critical of Spicer.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/Nightline">@Nightline</a> proves Spicer right about MSM&#8217;s dedication to negativity. Here is what I told them in a taped interview: 1/4
&#8212; Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/823927908712546305">January 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
&#8220;It looks to me if the ball was dropped on Saturday, Sean recovered it and ran for a 1st down on Monday.&#8221; 2/4
&#8212; Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/823927856552169472">January 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Here is how they chopped my quote: &#8220;It looks to me if the ball was dropped on Saturday&#8221; after ABC referred to &#8220;deliberate falsehoods.&#8221; 3/4
&#8212; Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/823927640692293633">January 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
If this is how the press reports, Trump is right to go after them. 4/4
&#8212; Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AriFleischer/status/823927548535050242">January 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
Fleischer is right. If the press continues to selectively edit statements in order to discredit President Trump or his administration, then it deserves to get treated with disdain. Given the current debate about fake news and its influence on information, ABC did not help itself in promulgating what seems to be an anti-Trump agenda. It does not benefit them to have Trump give them the same shellacking he gave <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/12335/watch-trump-bulldozes-cnn-reporter-amanda-prestigiacomo">CNN and BuzzFeed</a> a few weeks ago.
Follow Elliott on <a href="https://twitter.com/ElliottRHams">Twitter</a>.

FAKE NEWS: ABC Nightline Edits Ari Fleischer Quote, Gets Caught, Then Apologizes

ABC News

Fake News

Sean Spicer